ISU announces YouTube live streaming of Grand Prix & ISU Championships in 2019/20 (geo-restrictions will apply)

[Sylvia]

Press release: https://www.isu.org/isu-news/news/145-news/12726-isu-events-live-on-youtube?templateParam=15

The skating season starts this week with the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series in Las Vegas (USA) which will be the first Senior event available on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel this season.

Over 110 competition days will be live streamed with the goal to increase accessibility and visibility of ISU Sports worldwide, particularly in markets where there is no broadcaster. Although the live stream will be available in a number of countries, geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place.

The ISU will be publishing a “Where to watch” news with details of the geo-blocked territories ahead of each series and/or Event.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/SkatingISU

 

[Jeschke]

Well, these are some news at finally.
I fear the big countries will have geo-blocking, I am not too hopeful for Germany either, but let's see.

Will Ted be upgraded now?

 

[Orm Irian]

Will Ted be upgraded now?

Oh, let the poor man get some rest or his voice will give out altogether before the JGPF.

 

[Eisfee]

Well, these are some news at finally.
I fear the big countries will have geo-blocking, I am not too hopeful for Germany either, but let's see.

Will Ted be upgraded now?

But we don't have a contract as I know. So stay hopeful until we hear otherwise!

 

[MsZem]

The ISU Channel goes global!

At least, that what it sounds like to me. I'm still concerned about the lack of visibility, but at least this is a good option for existing fans.

 

[misskarne]

Yay! Finally some news! And it's good news.

Oh lord I hope the live chat is turned off. JGP was bad enough.

 

[love_skate2011]

comments are turned off. pointless cant express your opnions. Maybe they're scared of the trolls. lol

 

[barbarafan]

Yay! Finally some news! And it's good news.

Oh lord I hope the live chat is turned off. JGP was bad enough.

I used to like the live chat as many knowledgable users would go on but then it turned really toxic with a few spoiling it for the rest.

 

[Angela-Fan]

So... does this mean I've wasted money by buying a pass from nbc sports gold this season?

 

[seabm7]

So... does this mean I've wasted money by buying a pass from nbc sports gold this season?

I'm sure USA will be geoblocked. So either you use NBC gold or do VPN.

 

[clairecloutier]

LOL, there are people on Twitter praising Ted Barton for this development. When, TBH, everything suggests that the ISU turned to this as a stopgap measure after InFront failed to make deals for media rights in key regions.

It's going to be very interesting to see how these events affect the ISU's strategy on media rights going forward.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

So... does this mean I've wasted money by buying a pass from nbc sports gold this season?

No. If you are in the US, NBC Gold is the official broadcaster. Keep in mind the new platform excludes federation championships/etc, so you'd still need NBC to watch US Nationals.

Challenger events appear to remain the same—the fed has to supply the streaming platform. (It will be interesting to see how the ISU handles those in the future, and if that will change.)

 

[luckiest1]

Thank God....looks like Canada will get the Grand Prix after all.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

LOL, there are people on Twitter praising Ted Barton for this development. When, TBH, everything suggests that the ISU turned to this as a stopgap measure after InFront failed to make deals for media rights in key regions.

It's going to be very interesting to see how these events affect the ISU's strategy on media rights going forward.

I wouldn't say that fans are completely off-base here in assuming the JGP streams played some role here. 5(?) years of analytics and experience has probably provided the ISU with a lot of insight that makes for a strong bargaining chip.

Moreover, re: deal negotiations, I wouldn't necessarily look at this as a stopgap measure or a failure—now that it's clear they are no longer in a zone of possible agreement, the ISU is officially out of an exclusive negotiation period, which means they can talk to anyone. It's an opportunity for a better deal.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Ted Barton YouTube TV - 24/7. Count me in!

 

[Seerek]

I would take it that this announcement ceases any affiliation with Eurovision Sport?

 

[Sally1214]

Thank God....looks like Canada will get the Grand Prix after all.

OMG, I hope so! I have never watched the ISU YouTube channel. Is it free or do you need to buy a subscription to it?

 

[Braulio]

I liked the Eurovision stream with no commentary, so (sorry) I hope YouTube won't have it too

 

[Braulio]

OMG, I hope so! I have never watched the ISU YouTube channel. Is it free or do you need to buy a subscription to it?

Free like the junior grand prix

 

[Sally1214]

Free like the junior grand prix

FANTASTIC!!

 

[allezfred]

I wouldn't say that fans are completely off-base here in assuming the JGP streams played some role here.

The recent World Athletics and Gymnastics championships were both streamed live on YouTube in countries where the TV rights hadn’t been purchased. It is just a sign of the times.

 

[Braulio]

Spanish TVE (National TV) just announced. That they got rights for the whole season, this is an upgrade for them since they only showed 2 grand prix events(those in Europe) gp final and euros, worlds

But they negotiate and got rights for everything!

I wonder how a strong skating country like Canada can't afford this?

 

[text_skate]

Infront won't sell the rights to CBC the same prize as they sell to ESP TV.

And dealing with infront might have some ethical implications, too. Just a guess

 

[skatingguy]

The recent World Athletics and Gymnastics championships were both streamed live on YouTube in countries where the TV rights hadn’t been purchased. It is just a sign of the times.

They were on TV in Canada and we still had access to the YouTube streaming for replay - it was a good deal for anyone wanting to watch.

 

[PRlady]

I watched the ISU feed in Israel without commentary. Crystal-clear picture and no words to filter out. It was heaven.

 

[aftershocks]

LOL, there are people on Twitter praising Ted Barton for this development. When, TBH, everything suggests that the ISU turned to this as a stopgap measure after InFront failed to make deals for media rights in key regions.

It's going to be very interesting to see how these events affect the ISU's strategy on media rights going forward.

Ah, thanks for the explanation. At first, I couldn't figure out why there would be streaming of these events when NBCGold is selling subscription passes and blocking Youtube videos of performances from events they cover.

Now I get it, since @seabm7 and @Theoreticalgirl have also pointed out that ISU streaming of these major events will be geoblocked in the U.S.

ETA:
In general though, I'm technological-speak and technological-knowledge challenged. So I don't really understand exactly what's going on, nor the wider implications of what's going on. I just know there's no more tennis and other sports readily available on local television channels. And I have no intention of spending a fortune to watch all of the sports I'm interested in on cable or on online subscription packages. Of course, figure skating was always limited on regular television, and now it's fairly non-existent because what NBC puts out on its regular free airwaves channel is practically useless these days. And I haven't made a concerted effort to tackle VPN.

Even though U.S. Nationals' major free skate events are restricted to live broadcast on NBC, I get more out of watching the eventual on-demand coverage of the major free skates on NBCGold. I might watch the live coverage of those Nationals events on NBC, but as a diehard fan I already know what's going on that they don't talk about and don't cover, which casual fans wouldn't be aware of. It's the explosion of Internet and digital technologies that have made figure skating fans able to follow the sport in greater breadth of detail and specificity. Younger fans don't realize how limited and difficult it was in the good old, bad old days to keep up with what was happening in figure skating.

 

[aftershocks]

Infront won't sell the rights to CBS the same prize as they sell to ESP TV.

And dealing with infront might have some ethical implications, too. Just a guess

What are the ethical implications?

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[Miezekatze]

The recent World Athletics and Gymnastics championships were both streamed live on YouTube in countries where the TV rights hadn’t been purchased. It is just a sign of the times.

I also don't think that is necessarily bad for visibility re: new fans.

Many younger people barely know what classic tv is.

And my cousin who is 19 or so does watch some shows from regular (German) tv, but she watches even those on Youtube, where they are partly available after the original broadcast.

 

[Alilou]

Infront won't sell the rights to CBS the same prize as they sell to ESP TV.

And dealing with infront might have some ethical implications, too. Just a guess

I'm a bit confused. What does CBS stand for? AKAIK CBS is a US TV company and the US rights have already been sold to NBC. Is there another CBS?

 

[overedge]

Moreover, re: deal negotiations, I wouldn't necessarily look at this as a stopgap measure or a failure—now that it's clear they are no longer in a zone of possible agreement, the ISU is officially out of an exclusive negotiation period, which means they can talk to anyone. It's an opportunity for a better deal.

In the past IIRC the ISU has not always been realistic about the value of its broadcast rights, as in deals might have fallen apart because it was asking for too much $$$. I believe at one time it also insisted that buying rights to figure skating events also meant buying rights to speed skating events, which might have made the speed-skating part of the ISU happy but which probably didn't enhance the value of the offer. I hope that there are more sensible negotiators acting on behalf of the ISU now....